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WORLD NEWS Thursday 10 OcTOber 2019

Sri Lankan leader's party to support Rajapaksa in polls

By BHARATHA MALLA- hinda Rajapaksa, is popu-
WARACHI lar among majority Sinha-
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) lese for his part in ending a
— Sri Lanka's president will long civil war against eth-
stay neutral in the upcom- nic minority Tamil rebels a
ing presidential election decade ago. He has been
but his party will back a accused of condoning
breakaway party candi- rights abuses.
date, front-runner Gotaba- Rajapaksa said at his inau-
ya Rajapaksa, officials said gural election rally in the
Wednesday. northwestern town of Anu-
Sri Lanka Freedom Party radhapura on Wednesday
General Secretary Daya- that he will ensure the re-
siri Jayasekara said Presi- lease of all soldiers being
dent Maithripala Sirisena held for alleged human
has temporarily stepped rights violations as soon as
aside from leading the par- he is elected.
ty to ensure his neutrality. Sri Lankan presidential candidate and former defense chief Gotabaya Rajapaksa speaks during The step, if carried out,
He said the decision was his maiden election campaign rally in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2019. would reverse the current
made because questions Associated Press government's commitment
could arise about the im- to the U.N. Human Rights
partiality of police, which Rajapaksa is using to con- Party Vice President Ma- day bomb attacks that Council that alleged rights
Sirisena oversees. test the election. hinda Samarasinghe told killed more than 260 peo- violations by both govern-
The move is seen as an at- It is the first time that the Sri reporters that the decision ple. ment soldiers and the Tamil
tempt by the ramshackle Lanka Freedom Party, the to support Rajapaksa, a "He is a proven administra- Tiger rebels will be investi-
party to stay relevant after country's second-largest for former defense chief, was tor," Samarasinghe said. gated, and courts will be
losing a majority of its loy- more than six decades, has made with the backdrop Rajapaksa, who served set up to try suspects with
alists to the breakaway Sri not fielded a candidate in of the volatile security situ- under his brother, former the help of international
Lanka People's Front, which a major national election. ation following Easter Sun- strongman President Ma- prosecutors and judges.q

China's Xi to visit India this week, meet with Modi

Associated Press At the U.N., China said In- They also will visit the near-
NEW DELHI (AP) — Chinese dia should not act unilater- by temple town of Mamal-
President Xi Jinping is com- ally on Kashmir, a portion lapuram.
ing to India to meet with of which China also con- Xi and Modi last met one-
Prime Minister Narendra trols, and where there have on-one at a resort in Wu-
Modi on Friday, just weeks been occasional border han, China, in April 2018.
after China supported Paki- skirmishes between India Indian security forces have
stan in raising the issue of and China. detained 10 Tibetan activ-
India's recent actions in dis- On Oct. 31, New Delhi will ists, including noted novel-
puted Kashmir at the U.N. take direct control of La- ist and poet Tenzin Tsun-
General Assembly meeting dakh, the border region due, near Chennai to stifle
in New York. famous for its sparsely pop- any protests during Xi's visit,
India stripped Kashmir's ulated and stunning land- the Press Trust of India news
semi-autonomous status scapes, Buddhist monks in agency reported.
in August, deploying thou- mountaintop monasteries Regional police in the
sands of troops and cutting and elusive snow leopards southern state of Tamil
off internet connectivity prowling rugged terrain. Nadu also have asked In this Sept. 17, 2014, file photo, Indian Prime Minister Narendra
to prevent protests. Thou- India's Ministry of External more than a dozen Tibetan Modi, right, welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping, upon his ar-
sands of people, including Affairs said Wednesday students to sign statements rival at a hotel in Ahmadabad, India.
mainstream political lead- that Xi and Modi will meet promising not to engage in Associated Press
ers and young people, in the southern coastal city activities that may "commit
have also been detained. of Chennai on Friday and breach of peace or disturb tion of Madras. Two leaders lish lecturer at Hindustan
The Himalayan region of Saturday to "exchange the public tranquility," ac- of the student association College in suburban Chen-
Kashmir is claimed by both views on deepening" the cording to a photo of the were among those de- nai, was also arrested on
Pakistan and India and split two countries' develop- document provided by the tained on Sunday. Tuesday and remains in
between them. ment. Tibetan Students' Associa- Dr. Tenzin Norbu, an Eng- custody.q